tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85319891865872471292009-12-29T18:51:57.509-06:00After moving from Florida to Austin in 2006 I found myself longing for the wild places I left behind. This blog documents my humble attempts at transforming a small, relatively barren suburban lot into a wildlife-friendly oasis.Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-49882519584427339972009-12-10T18:10:00.002-06:002009-12-11T16:47:22.388-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Hello Garden Bloggers,I hope you’re enjoying the holidays. It’s getting quite chilly here in Austin, Texas. I’ve had to break out my winter coat. My goldfish appreciate the heater that keeps their water from freezing at night. I've included some photos of Seton NorthWest Hospital's Healing Garden throughout this entry as I

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-73653776777771224312009-10-07T14:30:00.002-05:002009-10-08T10:39:24.775-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.The rains have started falling and the drought may be slightly on the wane here in Austin, but as Robin at Getting Grounded explains in her entry Recapping the Summer from Hell 2009, it will take a whole lot of heavy showers before our lakes are full again. Still, my garden is finally happy after a long torturous summer. The

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-63711940553404839662009-09-30T21:13:00.007-05:002009-10-07T11:31:35.710-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I'd like to say "Thank you!" to Diana of Sharing Nature's Garden and Robin of Getting Grounded for hosting a lovely get-together on September 26th for the Austin Garden Bloggers. What a beautiful garden you have, Diana. It was a pleasure to meet our new Ag Extension Agent, Daphne Richards and visit with so many garden bloggers

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-5599549858959489352009-09-08T13:35:00.019-05:002009-09-15T19:12:08.691-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Our vacation in Galveston seems like a pleasant dream now that we're back home in drought besieged Austin again. The beach certainly was lovely this summer. We were relieved to see the island recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ike. My son enjoyed the beach this year; this time without any surgery worries. What a

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-76578362894099888092009-06-25T23:05:00.009-05:002009-06-26T00:21:15.855-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.First an update on my cat, Mariah: She is much improved; having almost finished with her antibiotics and is eating on her own. I'm extremely relieved since it was a bit touch and go there for a while. She and Lily will stay at the vet clinic for boarding as we travel to Galveston. We are renting the same beach house as last year

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-50096978492455874752009-06-18T14:30:00.012-05:002009-07-08T18:02:19.793-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope all of you are having a pleasant summer. I was planning on sharing some fun images from my & my son's birthdays as well as my mother & sister's visit and our trips to the gardens in the area.Unfortunately, all my plans have been put on hold because I'm taking care of my cat, Mariah, who is extremely ill.When we took her

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-61390730244243460152009-05-06T22:41:00.001-05:002009-05-07T00:43:01.709-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My front garden is filling out nicely, but only one out of three of my red yuccas are blooming in the same bed. It's sort of odd since they all bloomed at once in the past couple of years. If anyone has an idea what might be going on, please let me know.Inside, I finally had my kitchen project finished this week. Whoever built

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-65030933490133979452009-04-22T17:05:00.031-05:002009-04-28T13:50:29.519-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Most gardeners I've met are fairly environmentally conscious. This follows our chosen hobby naturally since we deal so closely with plants, soil, weather patterns and the animals that interact with our gardens. Susan Harris at Garden Rant is one of those special gardeners who cares about the environment; managing to inspire

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-61620533701363840262009-04-15T22:00:00.010-05:002009-09-16T23:11:45.019-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Someone finally helped me get my wooden mirror up on the dining room wall today. Thank goodness my cats approve. ;-) Actually, I don't usually allow Mariah and Lily on to the buffet -- nor tables, counters, or any other food-serving surface -- but I wanted to give a sense of proportion to the photo. Plus they pose really well.I

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-1372197905325782772009-04-12T19:26:00.018-05:002009-04-28T14:05:56.842-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope those of you who celebrate Easter had a very happy day. I'm enjoying the fragrance of the Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum) on our breakfast table this year. I was wondering if I could plant it in my garden, so I checked and saw the MSS at Zanthan Gardens has written a great deal of information about the lily here. Edit:

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-65398580330966294512009-03-31T20:32:00.022-06:002009-04-28T14:06:58.214-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I was feeling rather pleased with myself, because I'd finally found a mirror to fit over my dining room buffet. Here it is sitting (heavily) on the dining room floor...And here is my buffet over which I plan to hang said mirror:I started worrying today when I saw that it took two delivery men to carry the mirror into my house.

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-26529036331449074822009-03-28T16:17:00.019-06:002009-04-28T13:59:08.874-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. We're experiencing a major drought here in Austin, so I relish most anything that falls from the sky. I would, however, like to draw the line at large chunks of ice that break car & house windows like we had on Wednesday. Most of the hailstones in my garden were about the diameter of a quarter, like this one...Though I've read

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-14160702665016765492009-03-19T22:52:00.027-06:002009-04-28T14:01:11.194-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I've been on the lookout for a large pot or urn for my front porch. This week I finally found one at Hill Country Water Gardens. It's always a joy to visit this unique nursery. They seem to have everything I love; from plants... ...to pottery......complete with wildlife like this green anole......and fountains with very special

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-35728849904132752002009-02-26T14:53:00.005-06:002009-04-28T14:03:50.650-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.After several months of trying, I was finally able to get a photo of the male black-backed form of The Lesser Goldfinch, (Carduelis psaltria), that keeps visiting my garden...These are not the best pics in the world, but I was thrilled to capture him at all since he's so skittish...And I think this may be his girlfriend...They

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-10999916995257158572009-01-12T19:41:00.015-06:002009-04-28T14:08:58.846-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I received a beautiful live plant arrangement from a friend for Christmas this year. It includes a begonia, a bromeliad and what I was told is a terrestrial orchid with yellow flowers (is that right?). I know how to care of the first two plants, but must find out what exactly I'm to do with the last. I'd prefer not to kill

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-90667568875821884722008-12-25T14:29:00.004-06:002009-04-28T11:23:26.835-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope everyone is having a very enjoyable holiday. My son's grandfather & his wife came to visit us which made our Christmas a lot happier indeed. We decorated the house much as we did last year, but I'll share some photos here again anyway...I also took a stroll in my garden on Christmas Day.It was nice to see some flowers are

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-44339478180031570372008-11-27T03:20:00.006-06:002009-04-28T11:31:53.834-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Happy Thanksgiving!I am continuing my record as an official Blog Slacker this year by only posting an entry one time per month. My excuses? Well, recently I've started selling books online again, which is fun, but rather time-consuming. Also, this has been a difficult year for my family. Though, I must say I have a lot to be

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-50013071735517166692008-10-16T11:36:00.011-05:002009-04-28T11:34:39.030-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My Shubunkin goldfish had two babies! I couldn't believe it when I saw them swimming in my water garden last week. At first I thought they were just some of the guppies I've added to the water garden to control the mosquito population. Then I noticed they have spots and realized they are in fact baby Shubunkins. I could only get

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-417612630449404082008-09-16T15:31:00.002-05:002009-09-13T03:28:33.286-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My brother and his wife gave my son a wonderful butterfly kit to keep him occupied during his surgical recovery. It was fun for him to watch the stages of the American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) type butterflies. They arrived in the mail as caterpillars that mostly ate, then they finally changed into an inactive pupal stage....

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-88756804431528682662008-08-10T23:03:00.021-05:002009-04-28T14:16:54.770-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Sorry for the delay in announcement, but things have been extremely busy here. I'm happy to say that my son's surgery was a success. We're back home from the hospital and he's recovering well. His curvature was corrected from 69 degrees to 15 degrees, which is excellent. He had some rough times at the hospital, but he was very

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-75769808196817741472008-07-11T22:35:00.004-05:002009-04-28T14:31:30.464-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.We had a rejuvenating time on Galveston Island. The water was warm and the weather was almost perfect. One of our biggest surprises was seeing rabbits in front of our beach house each morning.They would eat the grass, run and play. Then they'd hide among the vegetation of the dunes in the heat of midday. The first time I saw

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-67133803835581008852008-06-17T15:59:00.021-05:002009-04-28T14:11:49.799-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. It's only June in Austin, but we've had record breaking temperatures here for so many days that it's felt more like August. My poor garden is a bit spent I'm afraid, but I'll show you what I do have. Here is a Canna that has some color left...And my Bat Face Cuphea (Cuphea Llavea) seems content despite the hot weather....

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-61624175314644232212008-05-30T17:53:00.011-05:002009-04-28T14:37:35.293-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. My son and I have birthdays only 5 days apart in May, so we had fun celebrating together. I received several pretty plants from friends this year. Here is one favorite...And a girlfriend was so thoughtful; she dropped this sweet bouquet by as well. I really love it!A couple of friends sent this cool hydroponic appliance for my

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-83064488752355034632008-05-08T12:18:00.018-05:002009-04-28T14:41:27.927-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Tired of waiting for my pool to be built before starting to plant my back garden; I have begun. I started by laying some pavers so the mower won't murder any more plants. The plants are still babies, but they are doing well thus far. I plan to add some pots in the arched gothic hangers; though I haven't decided what kind of

Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01818111801666078642noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8531989186587247129.post-6302508868357087982008-04-06T22:03:00.051-05:002009-04-28T22:31:09.456-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I had a pleasant time meeting Garden Bloggers from around the country at the 2008 Spring Fling here in Austin. I didn't get a chance to talk with everyone, but the Bloggers I did speak with were very kind. Thank you to Pam, Diana, MSS and Bonnie for doing all the heaving lifting (and a special thanks again to Pam & MSS for

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